TEHRAN (UNIC) -- According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the Islamic Republic of Iran marked $ 3,050,000,000 in 2013, while Iran’s FDI in other countries was $380m, during the same year.

The report projects that global FDI flows will rise to $1.6 trillion in 2014, $1.75 trillion in 2015 and $1.85 trillion in 2016, driven mainly by investments in developed economies.

However, fragility in some emerging markets and risks related to policy uncertainty and regional conflict could still derail the expected upturn in FDI flows.

The regional distribution of FDI inflows may tilt back towards the “traditional pattern” of a higher share of global inflows received by developed countries. UNCTAD projections suggest that flows to developed countries as a share of global inflows could reach 52 percent in 2016, after plummeting to less than 40 percent in recent years.

Nevertheless, FDI flows into developing economies will remain at a high level in the coming years.

UNCTAD says Asia continues to be the world’s top recipient region of FDI, accounting for nearly 30 percent of global FDI inflows. Total inflows to developing Asia (excluding West Asia) amounted to $382 billion in 2013, 4 percent higher than in 2012.

According to WIR 2014, after a sharp fall in 2012, FDI activity by the world’s 39 developed economies recovered in 2013, albeit marginally in the case of outflows. Inflows were $566 billion, rising 9 percent over 2012. Outflows were $857 billion in 2013 – virtually unchanged from a year earlier. Both inflows and outflows remained at barely half the peak level seen in 2007.